. >>> we'll turn now to the fiscal cliff, 30 days from an economy-crippling deadline. where everyone's taxes go up and massive spending cuts kick in. yet, talks seem to be going nowhere. treasury secretary timothy geithner will be the guest on "this week" with george stephanopoulos. george is with us now. good morning, george. >> last weekend, you sat right here and you said that you were reasonably optimistic that a deal could be afoot. in the intervening week, we have seen a lot of trash-talking from both sides, can we still be somewhat hopeful? >> this week was a rough week in these negotiations. treasury secretary geithner when he went up to capitol hill, on thursday, the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell laughed when he got the offer from tim geithner. they think it's an offer that doesn't show any rules towards compromise. house speaker john boehner said that the talks are at a stalemate. there seems to be a huge divide. democrats said they're not going to make another move until republicans clearly say they're going to go for an increase in tax rates. rep